Improvement in post-hole diggers



waited @Stabat @wat @Mite B. B. nannten AND o. W. Wieken, or DUQUOIN. ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 97,086, dated November 23, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN`POST-HQLE DIG-GERS.

The Schedule refen'ed to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all wheat it may concern:

Be it known that we, B. B. HERRICK and C. W. WICKER, of Duqucin, in the county of Perry, and

State of Illinois, have invented anlmprovedlost-v Hole Digger; and we do hereby declare that the following is'a full, cleaniand exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to4 make and ,use the same, reference being had to the aecompanying drawings, and `letters marked thereon, making a part of this-specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective representation of our invent-ion.

Figure 2, a central section of the same, taken on line x x, iig. l.

The nature of our invention consists in the construction and general arrangement ot a device for making post-holes, as more fully hereinafter described.

I F represent a cutter or die, which is made of steel, and so formed-as toymake holes to suit the shapev of posts,which are made by splitting a log through the middle part, and which is permanently fixed "to a handle, A, by means of substantial braces E, rivetedor welded to itand to a band, M, which is driven tightly on to the said handle.

A plunger, D, is made to i'it the inside of the cutter loosely, and has a shank, L, with a projecting arm, C, arranged to operate in a slot made in the handle, a coil-spring, S, beingplaced around the shank, and

' having one of itsends bearing against the arm C,

andthe other end against the band M, forces the plunger D up, aft-er the ealth has been expelled from the cutter P F.

Operation. l The. device may be driven into the ground hy a Sledge, and raised out by hand, and very greatly facilit-ate the vork for which it i's designed, but it is our. intention to operate itby horsebr steam-power, thereby providing means 'for performing a great amount of work iu a short space of time.

The advantage of making a hole so nearly as possible to suit the form of avpost is obvious,`inasmuch as the naturalcompactness of the earth is much more irm than any loose earth filled in; consequently, if only so much earth is removed as is necessary to re ceive the post, the latter will be much-less liable `to get out ot? place. This is especially the case whenthe posts are set inA the wet seasons of the "year, such as spring and fall.A

' To fully attain this end, cutters or dies of" two -or Athree different sizes can be made to use on one handle, and so arranged as tobe readily removed and replaced.'

Having thus fully described our invention,

What we claim, and desi-re to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

The arrangement of the expansive D-shaped cut ter F P, plunger D, shaft L, and arm C spring S, with the handle A and hand M, all constructed'to op erate substantially as set forth.

' B. B. HERRIOK.

C.' W. VVICKER.

\Vitnesses THos. BRIGGs, J AMES WHITE. 

